The Road to Democracy in South Africa: Volume 7: Soweto Uprisings: New Perspective, Commemorations and Memorialisation

The lastest contribution to The Road to Democracy series deftly analyzes commemorations and memorialisations of the 1976 uprisings in Soweto. Voices of authorities, police, and veterans of the struggle are shared through collective memories, eyewitness accounts, and oral history testimonies. These voices-and the experiences of activists, participants, and observers of the uprisings-provide readers with a palpable and arresting 'truth' more compelling than that of a dispassionate history text. The seventh in the series, this volume postulates that history can change at any given time. While pursuing a fragile balance between partisianship and objectivity, history is open to continuous reassessment and reappraisal, revision, and re-examination, construction and reconstruction. This volume-rooted in primary evidence and archival material rather than in abstract theories-offers readers rare insights from the voices and sometimes piecemeal memories of the students, parents, and authorities who lived through those turbulent and momentous days. (Series: The Road to Democracy Series, Vol. 7) [Subject: Politics, African Studies, Oral History]